A stocky and clever midfielder/forward, Ben Beams served a distinguished football apprenticeship at Glenorchy and the Tassie Mariners before being selected at Pick 33 by Melbourne in the 1997 AFL Rookie Draft. He made his senior debut for the Demons in 1999 – acquitting himself admirably with 14 disposals and a goal against Port Adelaide – playing 11 games for the season and seven the following year, a season in which Melbourne would play off in the Grand Final against the juggernaut Essendon side of 2000. After not having appeared in the seniors since Round 14 due to a broken arm, Beams was sensationally selected to play in the biggest match of the year, coming in as replacement for late withdrawal Cameron Bruce. Although the Demons were comprehensively beaten and Beams spent most of the day on the bench, he still tasted premiership success that season, playing in Sandringham’s VFL flag.

Beams parted ways with Melbourne after the 2001 season, but immediately found a new home in the Tasmanian Devils VFL team, where he was named vice-captain for 2002 and captain the following season. He would play 95 games over five seasons with the Devils, regularly featuring amongst his side’s best players thanks to his relentless gut-running and canny goal sense, traits that led to multiple VFL representative honours.

Beams left the Devils at the end of 2006 to take up the playing coach’s position at Myrtleford Football Club in Victoria. He would manage only 11 games in two years at the Saints due to two serious knee injuries, though made enough of an impact to finish runner-up in their Best and Fairest count in his first year despite playing just nine games. At the end of 2008 he returned to Tasmania and captain-coached Old Scholars FA side University between 2009 and 2011. He subsequently coached Glenorchy for two years before returning to University – this time as a player – in 2014, where he remains playing as of 2015.

Beams’ 240+ senior appearances for six clubs across two states are a testament to his resilience and versatility as a footballer.